Facebook tweaks rules to allow hate speech against 'Russian invaders' amid war on Ukraine

In light of Ukraine's invasion, Facebook on Thursday said it has temporarily eased its rules about violent speech to allow statements like "death to Russian invaders" on its platform. However, Facebook will not allow content that poses credible threats to civilians, it added.

Moscow's invasion of its neighbour has provoked international condemnation and unprecedented sanctions from Western governments and businesses, as well as a surge of online anger.

"As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders," Facebook's parent company Meta said in a statement, as reported by ANI.

"We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," it added.

Notably, the Facebook policy applies to several warn-ravaged countries like Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and now Ukraine.

In a recent move to penalize Russia over its attack on Ukraine, Facebook and other US tech giants have blocked access to its network in Moscow. Russia thus joined the club of countries barring Facebook and Twitter, along with China and North Korea.

Russia blocks social media, okays jail time for ‘fake news’ 

Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last month, Russian authorities have stepped up pressure against independent media even though press freedom was already waning rapidly in the country. Blocking of Facebook and restricting of Twitter last week came the same day Russia ordered jail terms on media houses for publishing "false information" about the country's military.

Facebook had played a key role in distributing information in Russia, even as it endured withering criticism in the West over matters.

Big US tech firms like Apple and Microsoft have halted the sale of their products in Russia, while other companies have announced "pauses" of certain business activities or ties. Last week, US internet service provider Cogent Communications "terminated its contracts with customers billing out of Russia."

The Washington Post reported Cogent has "several dozen customers in Russia, with many of them, like telecommunications giant Rostelecom, being close to the government."

It is exactly the kind of measure Ukrainian officials called for as they ask Russia be cut off from everything from Netflix to Instagram.